


This Is How The Story Went

by AnnaSilverstone



Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Accidents, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family Drama, Head Injury, Mild Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-22 02:51:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3712069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaSilverstone/pseuds/AnnaSilverstone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So there I was, sitting on the road as cars and bicycles whizzed past me ringing their bells and honking their horns at me. They were all just blurry shapes around me, because I had lost my contacts. I knew that I should get out of the way as quickly as possible, because sitting there was quite dangerous, but I was too disorientated to move. Even if I had tried I wouldn’t have been able to get up anyway, my wrist and knee hurt too much for me to push myself up and walk off the road. I was starting to panic because I had no idea how I was going to get away from the road, when suddenly two arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me off the road.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Met Someone By Accident

It was an early morning in London, the sun was shining from an almost cloudless sky, and I was on my way to a job interview. Since it was such great weather, I had decided to go to the interview on my bike. Mostly because I didn’t have a car, and since I didn’t have a job, what little money I had I thought should be used on essentials, instead of one ride on the tube.

Riding a bike through London was not something you did lightly, unless you had a death wish, which I truly found out that day. There were cars and other bike riders everywhere around me on the road, and I was being as careful and observant as I could be. But it seemed that others were too busy to be careful, and no matter how careful I was being, I couldn’t have avoided this.

I was weaving my way through the traffic, quickly and carefully making my way in between cars, buses, lorries, motor bikes and other bicycles. Just as I was about to make a left turn, a man on a bike came almost flying past me to make the same turn. I tried the best I could to slow down as he drove right in front of me, but it was too late. Suddenly he was gone, I lost balance and crashed to the road. I tried to brace the fall by holding my hands out in front of me, but as soon as I hit the road I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist and my right knee didn’t feel any better. And though I had been wearing a helmet when I crashed, my head was still hurting and I felt quite dizzy.

So there I was, sitting on the road as cars and bicycles whizzed past me ringing their bells and honking their horns at me. They were all just blurry shapes around me, because I had lost my contacts. I knew that I should get out of the way as quickly as possible, because sitting there was quite dangerous, but I was too disorientated to move. Even if I had tried I wouldn’t have been able to get up anyway, my wrist and knee hurt too much for me to push myself up and walk off the road. I was starting to panic because I had no idea how I was going to get away from the road, when suddenly two arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me off the road.

“I’ve got you, darling.” The man who held me said as he kept pulling me backwards until we were both on the sidewalk. I was of course relieved to be out of danger, but the fact that I was being held by a complete stranger didn’t stop me from panicking just yet. Hesitantly I looked over my shoulder at the man holding me tightly against him, probably to stop me from falling. “Are you alright?” He asked me in a concerned tone.

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure” I answered and kept staring at him, as I saw that it was Tom Hiddleston who had saved me. Even with my blurry vision, he was very easy to recognize, any self-respecting brit would recognize him anywhere. I had never fangirled over him, but I knew of his work and his charities and I respected him for all the good he did. Since I thought so highly of him, it was quite a shock to see him right behind me and feel his arms tightly around my waist. It was only then that I realized that his arms were the only thing that kept me up, since I wasn’t really standing on my own two feet. When I tried to stand on my own I felt a sharp pain in my right leg. “Ow, shit!”

“I am going to take that as a no.” He gently lifted me off the ground and carried me to a bench nearby, when he had placed me on the bench he went out to the road again, got my bike, came back to me, knelled down in front of me and looked me over. “Are you hurting anywhere else, darling?”

“My wrist and my head.” I lifted my throbbing wrist trying not to move it too much. “And I’m feeling pretty dizzy.”

“I am taking you to the emergency room, you need to get checked out.” He got up and moved to pick me up from the bench, but I stopped him before he could get his arms around me again.

“No, I don’t have time to go to the hospital… I have a… umm… job interview and I am late.” I was beginning to slur with my words and my head was spinning, but I needed the job and I couldn’t miss this opportunity. For a minute I forgot about my knee, so I quickly got up from the bench which made my head spin even more and the sharp pain in my knee returned. The last thing I remember, before I fainted, was losing my balance and Tom catching me.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next thing I knew, I was lying in a hospital bed with people all around me, looking at my wrist, knee and head. My head still hurt like hell but, since I was lying down, I wasn’t as dizzy as before. Since I had lost my contacts I couldn’t see the faces of any of the people around me, but I could feel someone holding my left hand tightly. I guessed that the person holding my hand was someone I knew, so I squeezed the person’s hand back. “Where am I?”

“You are at the hospital, miss, can you tell us your name?” The person examining my head said as she shone a light into my eyes, which made me hiss in pain.

“My name is Gemma Richardson… Why am I in a hospital?” I was very well aware that I was in a lot of pain, I just couldn’t remember why exactly that was.

“You were in an accident, we were hoping you could tell us what happened.”

“I… I don’t remember.” The fact that I couldn’t remember what had happened to me scared me beyond belief, and as a result I held on tighter to the person holding my hand. “I’m sorry, I really don’t remember.”

“It is okay, Tom here already told us what happened.” The doctor told me as she kept examining me, “We just needed to see if you remembered it yourself.”

“Tom?” Now I was really confused, since I didn’t really know anyone called Tom. “Tom who?”

“Me, darling, I pulled you off the road after you crashed on your bike.” The man holding my hand told me, I had heard his voice before so I figured I knew him from somewhere. But I couldn’t be sure since I couldn’t see his face clearly.

“Have we met before? I have heard your voice somewhere before, but I seem to have lost my contacts so I can’t really see you.”

“No, I’m afraid we haven’t met before you had your accident.” I had never been very comfortable talking to strangers like this, but, even though I couldn’t see him, I felt more relaxed around him than I ever had with anyone else.

“I’m sorry to break up this little meet cute, but we have to get you checked out properly.” The doctor told me before she turned toward Tom. “You’re welcome to stay here and wait if you want, Mr. Hiddleston.” I was shocked to hear his last name, to know that Tom Hiddleston was holding my hand right now. But with all my pain, confusion and drowsiness I couldn’t really react in the way I probably would have if we had met in any other circumstance.

“Thank you, I will wait right here” He said before he looked down at me again, and gave my hand a little squeeze. “Is there anyone I can call for you, Gemma? Family or friends?”

“I guess you should call my dad, he is listed as John in my phone. But you should probably know that he lives in France, so it might take him some time to get here.” I didn’t really want him to call my dad, but at that moment there were no one else I could think of who would come and help me. I would much rather he called my best friend, Lilly, but she was even further away. She was in America visiting some of her family, and I couldn’t take that away from her just because I didn’t was to see my dad.

My relationship with my dad had been very close in the early years of my life, but since he met Sarah, his new wife, it all became very strained. I just couldn’t stand the woman, she was like a teenager stuck in a forty year old woman’s body. Throwing tantrums when she didn’t get her way, and that was just exhausting to be around. I couldn’t understand what my dad saw in the woman, but I suppose she made him happy so I respected his choice of marrying her. It was just as if he didn’t realize that he was risking his relationship with me by being with her. The more I thought about all the drama with my dad, the more my head started to hurt. And the last thing I heard before I blacked out, was Tom telling me he would call my dad and I should just focus on getting better.


	2. Who Blew Me Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there I was, sitting in an uncomfortable armchair in the patient room the doctor told me to wait in, staring at a cell phone. All I could do was run through my side of what had happened over and over again, because I had to tell Gemma’s father that his daughter had been in an accident. Why had I told her that I would do that? I didn’t even know Gemma or her father, and for all I knew this was going to scare the living daylights out of her father. I should have let the hospital staff do this, but for some reason I wanted to help this injured woman in some way. And I thought getting her family to come would help her, because they were people that she actually knew.

Tom’s POV

 

It is weird how easily you form bonds with people in this world, that just the tiniest little thing can link you to another person for a very long time. Not that I would call what happened to Gemma a tiny little thing, but it was still a coincidence that I was walking past right when her accident happened. I had just been out for a run to wake me up, like I do every morning when I have the time. I was on my way home when it happened. I was walking the opposite direction of her, and she had caught my eye even before she crashed. Even with her helmet, she was a sight to behold, her long raven hair flowing behind her in the wind and a beautiful smile upon her face. I couldn’t help but stare.

 

But then, all of a sudden, the scene changed, a man cut in right in front of her at a very high speed. She was riding at a very high speed as well, but this man was faster. And as she struggled to adjust to his sudden appearance, she lost control and crashed. I knew I had to help her in some way, but for a moment I seemed to be rooted to the spot. But when I saw her starting to panic and struggling to get up, I moved as quickly as I possibly could to help her. I quickly got her out of harm’s way, figured out where she had been hurt, and decided that I would take her to the hospital.

 

And there I was, sitting in an uncomfortable armchair in the patient room the doctor told me to wait in, staring at a cell phone. All I could do was run through my side of what had happened over and over again, because I had to tell Gemma’s father that his daughter had been in an accident. Why had I told her that I would do that? I didn’t even know Gemma or her father, and for all I knew this was going to scare the living daylights out of her father. I should have let the hospital staff do this, but for some reason I wanted to help this injured woman in some way. And I thought getting her family to come would help her, because they were people that she actually knew.

 

So I found the contact in her phonebook called John, like she had told me, and called the number I found there. The wait for someone to pick up on the other end was hell, it was like time slowed down every second felt more like a minuet to me. I breathed a sigh of relief when someone finally did pick up.

_“Hi Gemma!”_ Said a woman’s voice on the other end, which was not what I had expected.

 

 “Hello, my name is Tom, I am calling on behalf of Gemma and I need to talk to John.” I explained

 

 _“What has Gemma done now?”_ She asked in a low tone and in French so I figured the question wasn’t meant for me. _“John can’t come to the phone right now, but I am his wife so I can give him the message.”_

“I am calling to tell him that Gemma has been in an accident, I have taken her to the hospital and I think she will be fine but I thought she might want some of her family around her.”

 

 _“That is just typical.”_ Again said in French, and I got the feeling that she didn’t really care about what I had just told her. She must have thought that I didn’t understand her, because when she spoke again she sounded very concerned all of a sudden. _“Oh my god, poor Gemma. Please tell me what happened to her.”_

 

I then went on to tell her everything that had happened, how Gemma had seemed when she was awake and that the doctors was still examining her. The woman, I learned was called Sarah, kept coming with snide remarks in French about how this was all Gemma’s fault and asking why Gemma couldn’t just grow up and stop acting out for attention. But when she spoke in English, she sounded like she was on the verge of breaking down in tears of concern for Gemma. This made me really not like her, but I, being a much better actor than her it seemed, didn’t let her know that. I spoke to her until it was settled that she and John would come to London as soon as they possibly could, then she thanked me for calling and hung up.

 

How could that woman honestly believe that Gemma had caused the accident herself? I was there, I saw it happen and I knew it wasn’t on purpose. It seemed completely unfair of that woman to assume that Gemma would do that to herself, but she of course knew Gemma much better than I did, so I shouldn’t really have judged the situation yet. However, I had a feeling that calling her father before the doctors had told me if she was alright, or before she could have told me clearly, honestly, that she wanted me to call him, might have been a bad idea.

 

I did not, however, get to ponder over that feeling for very long, since suddenly my own phone rang out in my pocket. It was only a text, but it was enough of a distraction for me to forget that feeling for a little while.

 

**_Tom, where are you? Was it not today we were supposed to meet for lunch? - Ben_ **

****

In all the confusion of the accident and bringing Gemma to the hospital, I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to be having lunch with Ben that day. It seemed I had also completely lost track of how much time had actually gone by since I first saw Gemma. How could a person I didn’t even know have that much of an impact on me?

 

As soon as I saw the text I felt bad about forgetting Ben so completely that, instead of just answering the text, I called him.

 

 _“Well, hello Thomas!”_ Benedict’s voice sounded from the other end of the line. _“Where are you?”_

 

“Hey Ben, I am so sorry I forgot about lunch!” I answered him quickly, in a very apologetic tone. “I’m at the hospital, but don’t worry I’m completely fine.”

 

 _“What happened? Why are you at the hospital if you’re fine?”_ He suddenly sounded extremely concerned.

 

“Well, I was on my way home from my run this morning when I saw this woman crash on her bike in the middle of morning traffic. When I saw that she was having trouble getting up and out of harm’s way, I ran out to help her. Not long after I helped her off the road she fainted, so I called an ambulance and went with her to the hospital.”

 

 _“My god, that sounds awful. Is the woman alright?”_ Ben’s concern for Gemma’s wellbeing sounded so much more genuine than Sarah’s had, and he didn’t even know her. How can two strangers care more about Gemma than this woman who was supposed to be a member of Gemma’s family? It just didn’t seem right.

 

“Yeah, I think so. I know she hit her head when she crashed, but she was awake and talking to me when we came to the hospital. I am still waiting for the doctors to tell me exactly what happened to her.”

 

_“How did she react when she saw you?”_

 

“She didn’t freak out or anything like that, I don’t know if she even realized it was me.” As Ben and I kept talking, I moved to put Gemma’s phone back in her bag where I found it. Before when I had just been looking for her phone I hadn’t really seen any of the other things in the bag, but now I couldn’t help but really look at the items she owned. There was an old mp3 player, which looked to have been very well taken care of. An old copy of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, which seemed to have been read many times. There were also what I guessed was her CV, her keys, her wallet, a sweater and lastly her glasses.

 

As I stood there with her glasses in my hand, it hit me. She hadn’t been able to see me at all, and yet she had acted completely calm with me holding her hand. She had trusted me blindly, literally, and that was truly amazing to me. “She had lost her contact lenses, Ben, she couldn’t see me. Yet she held onto my hand so tightly, like she trusted me, felt safe with me.”

 

_“I’m guessing that you’re going to stay with her, so should we reschedule lunch?”_

 

“Yeah, I’m going to stay for as long as she wants me to, I’m sorry, but I will call you as soon as I know when we can meet again.” I answered as I gently put Gemma’s glasses back in her bag.

 

 _“It’s okay, Tom, as long as you promise to pay for whatever I want next time we meet, and tell me more of this intriguing woman you saved.”_ Ben answered in a teasing tone, I knew he was kidding about me paying, but I would still happily do it.

 

“I promise, it is only fair since I forgot about you.” I told him just before the door to the room opened and Gemma’s bed was rolled into the room. “Ben, the doctor and Gemma are back so I have to go now, I hope to see you again soon!”

 

Ben quickly said his goodbyes and I hung up so I could concentrate on what the doctor would tell me, since Gemma was still sleeping the doctor only spoke to me. She told me that Gemma had broken her wrist, sprained her knee and had a slight concussion. I looked at the sleeping woman in front of me, she now had a cast on her right arm and a brace on her right leg. The doctor told me everything I needed to know about how to take care of her, since her father wasn’t there yet and she couldn’t be on her own. She was going to need a lot of help because she was going to need a wheelchair to move around, since she couldn’t use crutches because of the cast on her hand. She also had to stay out of stressful situations and that she needed lots of rest, to prevent her injuries and concussion from worsening.

 

After she was done talking, the doctor left me alone with the sleeping Gemma. I sat back down in the chair beside her bed, and just looked at her. She looked so fragile as she laid there in the hospital bed, and just like when I first saw her I couldn’t help but stare. Before I knew it, I was holding her hand again, like she just drew me to her. This woman who didn’t know me at all, but trusted me anyway, she had blown me away completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter I decided should be from Tom's point of view, I just hope I wrote him and Benedict right


	3. He Took My Sorrow And My Pain And Buried It Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This thing with Tom was different from anything I had ever experienced, my trust in him was instantaneous and I marveled at the fact. Maybe it was the fact that he had saved me that made me trust him, or that he hadn’t just left me alone at the hospital when he knew the doctors were taking care of me. Maybe I didn’t need a reason for trusting him, maybe I should just trust that I was comfortable around him and go with that for once. Lilly would definitely have told me to do that if she was there, she would have told me if there was a possibility that I could get a new friend I should give that a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: There is mention of the loss of a parent to breast cancer.

Gemma’s POV

My eyelids were extremely heavy when I tried to open them, after what felt like a whole day of sleep. Maybe it had been, I couldn’t be sure. What I did know was that I had been woken up every hour by a nurse checking me for symptoms that my concussion might be worse than they thought, and to make sure that I wasn’t in too much pain. When I finally woke up on my own, instead of by a nurse waking me, and I opened my eyes I quickly closed them again. I groaned at the pain that suddenly came when the light hit my eyes. I tried to pull my hand up to shield my eyes from the light, but my right hand hurt too much to move and something was holding my left hand down. I turned my head slightly to the left, hissing at the pain as I moved, and squinted my eyes to see the blurry shape of someone resting their head on my hand while they slept. Beneath the head of the sleeping person, I could feel my hand being held gently in his. It was the same hand that had held mine before I blacked out, it was Tom. During the check-ups the nurse had made I had been too tired or disorientated to notice that someone else was there with me. But he was still there with me, and the first thought that came to my mind was, _this is a nice feeling._

How could I be so comfortable with a stranger? I never had been before. It wasn’t that I was scared they would hurt me, I had just never been very good at meeting new people. Even when I met Lilly the first time, that was as awkward as ever. I had never been the kind of person who just clicked with someone they just met, it could take me ages to find the courage to connect with someone. Granted, Lilly was able to get under my skin eventually. We had met at school and, some days after my mom died, she had seen me sitting alone in the back of the classroom, so she decided to just sit down beside me and kept doing so every day until she had found a way to make me trust her enough to open up to her. She was stubborn as a mule and just wouldn’t give up on me, which I will forever be thankful for.

If it hadn’t been for her I would probably still have been living in France with my dad and Sarah, being treated like a child even though I was at the end of my teenage years when I lived with them. I was quite certain that my dad wanted me to live with him, I was after all his daughter. But Sarah seemed to have an issue with having me in the house, and whenever she did something that made me feel like I wasn’t welcome my dad did nothing to stop her or defend me. I don’t know what I ever did to make her treat me like she did, other than not letting her control me, but what did she expect? She was not my mom and she never would be. However, after a couple of years of being treated like that, Lilly convinced me that I had to get away from them. So I did, even though I had nowhere to go. When I got back to England Lilly told me that I could stay with her until I got back on my feet, so I had quite a lot to thank her for.

This thing with Tom was different from anything I had ever experienced, my trust in him was instantaneous and I marveled at the fact. Maybe it was the fact that he had saved me that made me trust him, or that he hadn’t just left me alone at the hospital when he knew the doctors were taking care of me. Maybe I didn’t need a reason for trusting him, maybe I should just trust that I was comfortable around him and go with that for once. Lilly would definitely have told me to do that if she was there, she would have told me if there was a possibility that I could get a new friend I should give that a chance.

After a while of just lying there letting Tom sleep while holding my hand, I started stroking his cheek softly trying to wake him up gently. Tom stirred a little as my finger moved against his cheek, but it didn’t quite wake him up. So I squeezed his hand tightly, “Tom, wake up.” I said while shaking our hands back and forth. This made him shoot up to an upright sitting position and look around the room quickly, until he saw me looking at him.

“Gemma, you’re awake!” He exclaimed as his hold of my hand grew tighter, and I squeezed his right back. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m really tired, even though I feel like I have slept for a day, I have the worst headache ever and I’m extremely sore all over.” I told him and sent him a tired smile. “But first things first, will you get my glasses in my bag?”

“Of course I will.” He told me as he gently let go of my hand so he could walk over to the cabinet he had left my bag on. “Here you go darling.”

“Thank you, Tom.” I said when I felt the glasses in my hand, and when I had gotten them on I saw Tom sitting beside my bed looking at me and finally I could see his face clearly. “So it is you.”

“Yes, it is me.” He smiled brightly at me, and now that I could finally see it I couldn’t help but smile back. “Were you expecting someone else?”

“No, I wasn’t. I’m just happy to finally be able to see you clearly.” I told him honestly.

“I am happy that you are finally awake.” As he spoke I looked down at my left hand, and saw his hand lying very close to mine. I couldn’t help myself and not long after I gently took hold of his hand again, it made me relax for some reason that I couldn’t quite understand yet.

“So am I, though I could easily go right back to sleep at any moment.” I felt extremely exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep, but I didn’t want to do it at the hospital anymore, I wanted to be at home in my own bed. “But I really want to go home, do you know when I can do that?”

“The doctor told me that you had to stay for observation for twenty four hours to make sure your concussion wasn’t worse than they originally thought, but after that you would be able to go home.” He told me as he let his thumb brush gently across the back of my hand. “So I believe you can go home soon.”

“Great!” I exclaimed with a smile and an exhausted sigh, we then fell into a comfortable silence where we just looked at each other. I still couldn’t remember what had happened just before, during or after the accident, but I had short glimpses of myself sitting on a road not being able to get up. Tom had told me that he had saved me in some way and I felt like I should thank him for that. “Tom, I want to thank you for helping me after my accident and for still being here, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there. I will be grateful to you forever.”

“You don’t have to thank me, darling, I just did what anyone else would have done.”

“Maybe, but it wasn’t anyone else that did it, it was you. And I want to thank you for that!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Later that day we were driven to my apartment by a patient transport, since Tom didn’t have his car and I was wheelchair bound that was the only way we could get there. As soon as we entered my home I felt so much more relaxed than I had at the hospital. I knew exactly why that was, I had been in a place I didn’t know, surrounded by people I didn’t know, it was no wonder I felt better being at home. I was very happy to be home, but I felt extremely uncomfortable in the wheelchair. I didn’t really know if it was because I wouldn’t be able to move around on my own any more, or maybe it was just because I was tired and wanted to go and lie down. At this point I couldn’t tell the difference, I was too exhausted.

I quickly told Tom that I wanted to go sleep some more, so he pushed the wheelchair to the room I told him was my bedroom. He gently picked me up, sat me on the edge of my bed and helped me remove my clothes so I could get comfortable, I saw him avert his eyes as much as he could when all the clothes left on me were my underwear. I gently pointed to my dresser and asked him to find a t-shirt for me to sleep in, and he gently helped me get into it with the least amount of pain for me as possible.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, darling?” He asked me gently, seemingly knowing that my headache was still really bad.

“If you would get me some painkillers and draw the curtains I would be very grateful.” I told him with a weary smile.

He quickly left the room to get what I asked for and soon returned with them and a glass of water, he handed them to me before he went to the window to draw the curtains, and as soon as the room darkened I sighed in relief as my pain lessened a little bit. After I had swallowed the painkillers and emptied the glass, I took off my glasses and laid down on the bed. Tom tucked me into the bed and kissed my forehead gently, as I drifted off to sleep I heard him say “Sleep tight, love.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“You’ve redecorated?” I asked when he wheeled me into the living room, and I saw that my furniture had been moved around quite a bit. I had slept the most of the day, it was now late evening and I had woken up hungry.

“I wanted to make it easier for you to move around the apartment in your wheelchair, I hope you don’t mind.” He told me as he pushed me to the kitchen, and started moving around the kitchen to find me some food. He seemed to have gotten well acquainted with my apartment very quickly, it was quite easy to do that since it was a very small apartment.

“I don’t mind at all, thank you, Tom.” I let my eyes follow him around, and run across his body. He was gorgeous, no doubt about it, and I couldn’t stop staring at him. I had been with other men before, not a lot but some, but never had I been this taken with a man’s body. I was so taken with it that I didn’t notice that he was talking to me.

“Gemma?” It took him clearing his throat loudly and saying my name to get me to snap out of it.

“What? Yes, what were you saying?” I asked when I finally got my eyes to move from his beautifully well-built torso to meet his eyes.

“I was asking what you would like to do now that you are awake, it shouldn’t be anything that needs too much focus.” He gave me the plate of food he had made for me, before he pushed me to the couch, lifted me from the chair to the couch and made sure I was comfortable.

“Well, what I usually do at this time of the evening is read, but I would have to focus to do that.” I told him before I ate a slice of apple, and looked at him as he sat down next to me. “So maybe we should just talk?”

“What do you like to read?” He looked at me like he was studying me and when I met his gaze he just smiled.

“Mostly old classics, like Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, but my favourite is Jane Eyre.” As I mentioned the last book I smiled back at him, but it was somewhat sad.

“Why is that your favourite?” He hesitated a little when he saw the sad look on my face, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“It was my mom’s favourite as well, she read it to me when I was a kid.” I played with the food on my plate as I talked, trying to avoid his studying gaze. “When she died she left me her copy of it, I read it when I miss her...” When my voice died out I felt his arm wrap around me and pull me closer to him, I didn’t hesitate to rest my head against his chest.

“When did she die?” I felt him stroke my hair gently as he spoke.

“When I was ten, she had breast cancer.” Though it had been eighteen years since she died, I still found it extremely hard to talk about her. I hadn’t talked to very many people about my mom, only Lilly and my dad. Telling a new person about her was hard for me, and going through the pain of it all over again brought tears to my eyes. As a result of the pain and my emotions, I snuggled further into Tom’s embrace and his arms tightened around me.

“I’m so sorry, love, so, so sorry.” He kissed the top of my head softly.  
I just nodded my head to tell him it was alright, and he seemed to understand. He just allowed me to cry in his arms, without trying to make it better by telling me how I could or should get over it, and that helped me so much more than he could probably imagine.

“Do you want to read it right now?” He asked me after a long while of just sitting in silence.

“I do, but I am not allowed to do that.” I lifted my head from his chest to look at him, and saw that he was smiling down at me.

“No, but I can read it to you.” I smiled back at him and nodded to give my consent, with that he lifted me into his arms bridal style and walked to my bedroom. He laid me on the bed gently, before he quickly found the book in my bag and laid down beside me. I took off my glasses and snuggled up against him, since I knew there was a very big possibility that I would fall asleep while he read to me. He put his arm around me tightly and kissed the top of my head again before he started reading to me.

No one, other than my mom, had ever read that book to me. In the beginning it felt weird to hear Tom do it, but I soon found that him doing that took some of my pain of losing my mom away. It didn’t make me miss her any less, but it helped me heal in a way I didn’t quite understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to update this, but I have started on a month long course thing to find out what I want to do with my life. That took away some of my muse, but it is back now :D


	4. I Don't Know You, But I Want You All The More For That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were so many more questions in my head, but since I hadn’t really slept all that well at the hospital I could feel myself begin to fall asleep. I wondered for a while if I should go sleep on the couch but, after what she had told me about her mother, I just couldn’t make myself leave her alone. She needed comforting and someone to hold her, so I ended up falling asleep with her in my arms.

Tom’s POV

 

I read to Gemma until she fell asleep, which didn’t take her very long. I could tell she was trying to stay awake to listen to the story, but she was visibly exhausted and struggling to keep her eyes open from the moment she snuggled into my embrace. To begin with she, from time to time, mouthed the words along with me as I read them, then she reverted to just listening, and when that became too exhausting for her she fell asleep. Before I put the book away, I looked at the words written on the inside of the cover.

 

It was a message for Gemma from her mother, it seemed to be the last one her mother wrote to her. All through the letter she would call Gemma ‘ _My precious Gem_ ’, and tell her how sorry she was for leaving her when she was so young. The message was so sad, and the thought that Gemma had received it at the age of ten was heart breaking. On the page opposite the message, there was glued a photograph of a woman and a little girl holding each other in a loving embrace while smiling brightly at the camera. It was clear that it was a picture of Gemma and her mother, they looked so happy that it just made me sadder. It was normal that children should bury their parents, but not at such a young age.

 

I put the book on the nightstand beside her bed, and just laid there looking at the stunning woman sleeping in my arms. _You must be incredibly strong._ I thought as I let my fingers run gently through her hair. I couldn’t imagine the pain she had gone through, I was extremely grateful for that, but I wished that Gemma wouldn’t have had to.

 

Another, more urgent, thought that went through my mind was. _Are really you as bad as this Sarah makes you seem?_ I didn’t want to ask her that question at all, but it still kept popping up in my head. No, I didn’t believe that Gemma could be as selfish and childish as Sarah had painted her to be, the way she had acted around me made it impossible for me to see her that way. She had been through a lot of pain throughout her life, and that would make anyone act out of sorts. But Gemma seemed to me as if she was perfectly normal, even with the trauma she had been through.

 

There were so many more questions in my head, but since I hadn’t really slept all that well at the hospital I could feel myself begin to fall asleep. I wondered for a while if I should go sleep on the couch but, after what she had told me about her mother, I just couldn’t make myself leave her alone. She needed comforting and someone to hold her, so I ended up falling asleep with her in my arms.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing, and I could tell that it wasn’t mine. Gemma stirred at the sound as well, like she was waking up, but I stroked her hair gently and told her that I would take care of it for her. So, as I got out of bed to answer the phone, she immediately went back to sleep. I quickly found the phone in her bag and answered it.

 

“Hello?” I asked softly as I left the bedroom, letting Gemma get all the rest she needed.

 

 _“Hello, this is Lilly. Who am I speaking to? And would you please tell me if it is true that Gemma has been in an accident?”_ A concerned woman asked me from the other end of the line.

 

“Hi Lilly, my name is Tom.” I answered her as I walked around the living room, wondering who this Lilly was to Gemma. “It is true, she crashed on her bike the day before yesterday…”

 

 _“Oh my god, is she okay? Please tell me she is okay.”_ I was going to tell her that Gemma was okay under the circumstances, but she cut me off before I could get another word out.

 

“She broke her right wrist, sprained her right knee and she has a concussion. But she is okay under the circumstances.”

 

 _“Can I talk to her? I really need to hear her voice.”_ I thought this woman must really have been a good friend of Gemma’s, and the fact that she was so worried about her, made me surer that Sarah was wrong about Gemma.

 

“I’m sorry, but she is sleeping right now, and the doctor told me that rest is very important for her the first couple of days.” Then it suddenly occurred to me that she had known about the accident before she called, I had only told Ben and Sarah about it, so how did she know? “How did you find out that Gemma had been in an accident? If you don’t mind me asking.”

 

 _“I am Gemma’s best friend, so her dad called me to ask if it was true. But I am in America, so I couldn’t really tell him anything.”_ Her tone was rather harsh as she spoke, but I had a feeling it was aimed at Sarah and John, and not at me. _“Who are you to her? If you don’t mind me asking.”_

 

“I was the one who pulled her off the road after her accident, I am also taking care of her, since there were no one else to do that.”

 

 _“How well do you know each other?”_ By the tone of her voice this seemed like a very important question.

 

“Not that well, the day of her accident was the day we met.”

 

_“And she trusts you to take care of her?”_

 

“Yes, completely.” I answered her confidently. “She trusted me even when she couldn’t see me.”

 

 _“Wow!”_ Lilly exclaimed as if this was the most amazing news she had ever gotten. _“By Gemma’s standards that is truly amazing!”_

 

“I was very amazed myself, but I didn’t know she has trust issues.”

 

 _“When her mom died she kind of pulled into herself, closed herself off, and it took me a very long time to get her to open up to me.”_ That made complete sense to me, and made her trust in me even more precious to me. _“You are a very lucky man to get her to trust you that quickly.”_

 

“I feel very lucky, but I wouldn’t mind if the circumstances in which we met had been different.” I told her with a light sigh. And yet, if we had met in another way, where there hadn’t been any danger to save her from, would she still trust me like she did? I would never know, and I didn’t want to anyway.

 

 _“I don’t blame you there, Tom.”_ She told me, then I heard another voice on her end of the line calling her name. _“I have to go. Take good care of Gemma for me, and tell her I will be home as soon as I can.”_

 

“I promise I will, Lilly, and take good care of yourself.” I said before we both hung up. Then I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea, and to see what kind of breakfast I could make for Gemma and me when she woke up. As I drank my tea, I called Luke to ask him if he would bring me some of my things and some clothes from my apartment. After many questions about why I needed him to do that, and me telling him everything that had happened, he agreed to bring the things I had asked for as soon as possible. It didn’t take very long before she actually did wake up, I had just finished my cup of Earl Grey when she called my name from the bedroom.

 

“Good morning, love.” I greeted her as I entered the room, to find her sitting on the edge of the bed trying to figure out how to reach her dresser.

 

“Good morning, Tom.” She said with a sweet smile as she turned from her dresser to look at me. “Would you help me get some clothes? I can’t really reach it myself at the moment.”

 

“Of course I will.” I gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before I walked over to the dresser. “What kind of clothes do you want?”

 

“Something loose fitting and casual.” She told me as she held the sides of her head gently in her hands, a sign that she was still in pain. “Since I’m guessing we are not going out any time soon.”

 

“I think you need to recover a bit more before we do that.” I told her as I found a t-shirt and some sweatpants for her, and helped her to the bathroom so she could get dressed and whatever else she needed to do in there. I had to help her with quite a lot of things, since she was normally right-handed and that hand was in a cast. So I helped her brush her teeth and hair and to get dressed, but when it came to her using the toilet we both agreed it was best if she did that on her own. I agreed to it mostly because I was a gentleman, but also because her bathroom was so small that she could easily support herself against the walls for the short amount of time it took for her to get on and off the toilet.

 

While we were eating breakfast I told her about Lilly’s phone call. She was of course sad that she couldn’t have talked to her herself, but happy to hear that her friend was coming home soon. After that we talked a bit about her school time and how she and Lilly had become friends. Then we talked a bit about The Hollow Crown, which she told me she had loved very much. While we talked the doorbell suddenly rang, I told her I would answer the door since I thought it was Luke with the things I had asked for.

 

But when I opened the door I saw a man and a woman standing there with a suitcase each.

 

“Hello, you must be Tom.” The man said as he took a step closer to the door. “We have come to see my daughter, may we come in?”


	5. Should I Stay, Should I Go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was deep in thought when I heard the sound of my dad’s voice coming from the hall, it made me sit up straighter in my wheelchair. I had totally forgotten that I had asked Tom to call him, and now I regretted that decision more than ever. Or at least I thought I did, until I heard Sarah asking Tom how I ever found a man like him. Then I really regretted it. I didn’t get to hear Tom’s answer, as I was forced to focus on my suddenly intensifying headache. Why did he have to bring her? She didn’t care that much about me anyway, so why did she even want to come?

Gemma’s POV

 

Rain was falling outside as I sat at the table looking out the window, while Tom answered the door. Having someone else staying in my apartment with me, was something completely new to me. Since Lilly had her own place, it had always just been me all alone in the apartment all the time. And I had been completely okay with that, independence had always suited me just fine. But now something was changing in me, Tom being there with me made me realize how lonely it had really been. It reminded me of something Lilly had told me once. ‘ _I know you want to be independent, I understand that, it's a good thing to be, but it doesn't mean you always have to be alone.’_ I hadn’t fully understood her when she said it, but thanks to Tom I did, and now I could see Lilly was right.

 

I was deep in thought when I heard the sound of my dad’s voice coming from the hall, it made me sit up straighter in my wheelchair. I had totally forgotten that I had asked Tom to call him, and now I regretted that decision more than ever. Or at least I thought I did, until I heard Sarah asking Tom how I ever found a man like him. Then I _really_ regretted it. I didn’t get to hear Tom’s answer, as I was forced to focus on my suddenly intensifying headache. Why did he have to bring her? She didn’t care that much about me anyway, so why did she even want to come?

 

“Gemma!” I heard my dad exclaim as he came into the kitchen, and I made myself focus on him. He quickly came over to me, knelt beside me and kissed my forehead gently. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

 

“Yeah, dad, I am sore and my head is killing me, but I’m good under the circumstances.” As I spoke my eyes shifted to Tom as he and Sarah came into the kitchen. When he heard me say I was in pain, he hurried to one of the kitchen cabinets to find some painkillers for me. I still couldn’t quite believe how caring he was being, and by the looks of it neither could Sarah. “Tom has been taking great care of me.”

 

“I am glad to hear it.” My dad said as I accepted the painkillers and a glass of water from Tom with a smile, and then my dad stood up to shake his hand with gratitude. “Thank you, Tom!”

 

“Yes, thank you, Tom.” Sarah said before Tom could even get a word out. “It would have been so awful if our little Gem had gone through this all alone.” I almost winced when I heard her call me Gem, but I controlled myself. I couldn’t stand her calling me that, it was my mom’s term of endearment for me, and hearing her say it just made my blood boil. I didn’t want to stoop to her level, I had decided long ago that I would try to respect both her and my dad, no matter how much I disliked Sarah. So I just sent her a little smile, which I hoped looked more genuine than it was.

 

“You are welcome.” He answered with a smile, but I saw him keep looking at Sarah like he was studying her or something. “The doctor told me that I had to take care of her, but I would have done it either way.” He took my hand gently and smiled at me, and I just couldn’t help but smile back.

 

Then Sarah excused herself to the bathroom, Tom went to the kitchen to see how much food was there and if it was enough for the four of us, and my dad sat down beside me and had me explain everything that had happened. I told him the story to the best of my ability, the things I still couldn’t remember Tom helped me explain. I listened just as intently as my dad did when Tom spoke, because I was learning what had happened to me like my dad was, but also because I really liked the sound of his beautiful voice. I could have listened to him speak all day if he would let me, and if I didn’t have such a headache.

 

While Tom wasn’t speaking, he was making a list of things he thought we needed. It bound to be a long list, since I hadn’t had a lot of money to buy things, even food, with. Once or twice he asked me if there were things I wanted him to buy, things of luxury that I hadn’t bought for a very long time. I told him that he shouldn’t use so much money on me, but the look he sent me in return told me that he would do so anyway. A few times, my dad suggested that maybe he should go get the groceries instead of Tom, but Tom insisted that he would go and that it wouldn’t take long.

 

“Are you leaving, Tom?” Sarah asked when she came back, having obviously only heard the last bit of the conversation. “I suppose that makes sense, since we are here to take care of Gem now.” She made it sound like she wanted Tom to leave, as if it was her home and not mine, and I was unfit to make decisions. Oh how I wanted to tell her straight to her face, that I wanted Tom to take care of me so much more than I wanted her and dad to do it. But Tom answered before I found the right words to tell her off with.

 

“No, I am not leaving.” He told her as he walked over and stood beside me, “I am just going to get some groceries, and then I will be right back.” The last bit was spoken to me more than Sarah, a reassurance that he was in fact coming back.

 

“Oh, how nice.” She retorted with a little too much empathy to make it seem like she really thought so. It seemed that Tom didn’t feel the need to answer, so he just smiled at her before he turned to me again. He kissed my cheek gently and told me he would be back soon, then he took the list and headed for the door.

 

While Tom was gone, Sarah asked me all sorts of questions about Tom and me. How, where and when we had met. Why I thought he would stay with me, and what I had done to make him want to. There were many more questions, each of them casting their own piece of doubt in my mind, and thus making me hate the fact that Sarah and dad were there even more. That I couldn’t move that damned wheelchair on my own was another thing I hated, I wanted so much to leave the room, but I would not give Sarah the satisfaction of me asking either her or dad to help me do it. So I did my best to answer her questions nicely and be the supposed grown up of the conversation until Tom returned.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He did return quickly, as he had promised, and saved me from blowing a gasket since Sarah didn’t dare ask so many of her questions in front of Tom. When he returned he had his publicist, Luke, with him. This made my dad suggest that he and Sarah should go for a walk, since he knew that having too many people around me at once could make me worse. Sarah reluctantly agreed, and I breathed a sigh of relieve when she was finally out of the door.

 

“Hello, Gemma!” Luke greeted me when Tom introduced us, he seemed nice so I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Tom told me what happened to you, how are you feeling?”

 

“Hi, Luke!” While Luke and I talked, Tom busied himself with putting away the shopping and carrying the things Luke had brought him to my room. “I am okay, I am not free of pain yet and I expect it will be a while before I am, but I am okay.”

 

“I hope it won’t take too long before the pain goes away completely.” We kept talking for a while, and when Tom was done putting everything away he joined us in the living room. He moved me from the wheelchair and laid me on the couch so I could rest, with my legs across his lap keeping my knee elevated. I spent most of my day there, as per Tom’s orders. He read more of Jane Eyre to me and even though I told him not to, he took care of my every need. He said it was easier that way, since I couldn’t move on my own. He was right of course, I just needed to get used to the fact that I couldn’t do everything myself anymore and that I didn’t have to.

 

 

* * *

  

 

Luke ended up staying for dinner, which he and Tom made. During dinner Luke, Sarah, dad and Tom talked about a lot of things while I stayed silent. Tom asked a few times if I was okay and I told him that I was just tired, but in truth I was going over all the questions Sarah had asked earlier. For the first time since I met Tom I was nervous, and because of that I wanted to be alone, like I always wanted to when I was nervous, sad or scared. So I asked my dad to help me to my bedroom, as he wheeled me into the bedroom my nervousness only grew when I heard Sarah starting to ask Tom questions.

 

If I hadn’t known Sarah the way I did I could have assumed that she was just curious, but with the way she had always treated me I just didn’t trust her desire to know everything about Tom and me. I just hoped that her questions wouldn’t cast doubt in Tom’s mind, as they had in mine. I didn’t want him to go, I didn’t want to lose this completely new thing I was experiencing. Not yet, not ever if I could help it.

 

Later Tom came in and sat beside me on the bed, looking at me with great concern edged on his face.

 

“What is wrong, love?” He asked me as he took my hand and kissed it gently. “This is not just about you being tired, is it?”

 

“It is just something Sarah said.” I told him as I held on tighter to his hand, but did my best to avoid his gaze.

 

“What did she say?”

 

“She asked me how I could be sure you wanted to be here, and why I even thought you would stay.” I closed my eyes as soon as the words had left my mouth, hoping that he didn’t think I sounded ridiculous.

 

“Look at me, Gemma.” He said softly as he cupped my cheek gently, and tilted my head up so I would look at him when I opened my eyes. “Please?” I slowly opened my eyes to look into his beautiful eyes so filled with care. “Answer me this, darling, do you think I would be here if I didn’t want to be?”

 

“No.” I whispered

 

“Do you trust me?”

 

“Yes, of course I do.” I had trusted him from the moment I woke up at the hospital surrounded by doctors and with him holding my hand, we both knew it, but it felt good to say it out loud.

 

“Do you believe me when I say that I want to be here with you?” At this question he looked deep into my eyes to find the true answer.

 

“Yes.” I told him, sounding more confident than I thought I would.

 

“Good.” He smiled at me and kissed my hand again. “So, what does it matter what Sarah says?”

 

“I know it shouldn’t, but she has always had the ability to make me doubt myself and the people around me.” As I spoke I felt tears run down my cheeks so I closed my eyes again.

 

“Do you want me to stay?” I couldn’t get any words out, no matter how much I tried, so I just nodded. “Tell me, Gemma, I need to hear you say it.”

 

I took a very deep breath before I opened my eyes again, “This feeling is so new to me, Tom, I still have to get used to the idea of not being alone anymore.” I held on tightly to his hand as I looked into his eyes, “I have always liked being alone, but you have changed that, so please stay.”

 

“Of course I will stay, I will stay here for as long as you want me to.” He smiled happily at me before he pulled me into a warm embrace. “Sometimes I will have to leave for work, but I will always come back if you want me to.”

 

“I know that now, I was just a bit scared that I might have scared you away.” I pulled out of his embrace slightly to look into his eyes and he smiled at me.

 

“It takes more than a little doubt to scare me away, Gem.” With those words he gently cupped my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine, that was all the assurance I needed, to know that he meant what he said.


	6. Oh, Babe, I Hate To Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If I hadn’t already been blown away by this woman, the words she just said certainly did the trick once again. I sat there stunned for a moment, just starring at the woman in front of me. She, for one, was studying my face, as if she was trying to find out if she had said something wrong. Just as she was about to speak again, to explain herself further. I pulled her in for another deeper kiss, surprising her a little. But she quickly adjusted, and melted into my embrace as I gently pulled her onto my lap.

Tom’s POV   

 

The kiss was amazing, just like I imagined it would be. I had wanted to kiss her since the moment I realized how much she trusted me, all the small kisses on the her forehead and cheek were just like a taste of the good things to come. And when it finally happened it was truly amazing. I had only intended it to be a little chaste kiss, but when she kissed me back we just couldn’t stop again. It was fast, I know, but it felt so right. Gemma seemed to feel the same way, she pulled me closer to her with her good arm while deepening the kiss. Yet another way for her to show how much she trusted me, and I just couldn’t help the smile that suddenly spread across my face.

 

When I pulled away again she was smiling just as brightly as I did, I loved seeing her smile like that, knowing I had put the smile there. But my own smile faltered a little when I remembered what Luke had told me just before he left, and, of course, Gemma noticed.

 

“What’s wrong?” She asked in a worried tone, as she searched my eyes for some sort of clue as to why I suddenly looked so worried.

 

“I just remembered something Luke told me, in a couple of days I have some very important interviews to go to that Luke says I can’t miss.” I loved my work, I really did, and those interviews were fun. But still I had this nagging feeling about leaving Gemma alone with Sarah. Not that I thought Sarah would intentionally hurt Gemma, but some of the things she said might get Gemma worked up, which wasn’t good for her in her condition.

 

“How long will you be gone?” She didn’t seem as worried as she had before, she knew I would come back, but there was still some of it left in her voice.

 

“Luke said it would take two days at most.” It could very easily have been much longer, it could have been a film shoot lasting months. I don’t know if I could have done that, even with how much I loved my job. I had promised Gemma I would help her, and I stood by that promise.

 

“That is not very long.” She said with beautiful smile on her face, and I was so relieved to see it.

 

“You don’t mind that I go?”

 

“No, of course not.” She was still smiling, but that soon changed when she seemed to realize what she might have just implied. “Don’t get me wrong, I will miss you a lot while you are gone. But I know, from what I have heard of you, how important your work is to you. I wouldn’t dream of asking you to stay just because of me. This is your job we’re talking about, a job you love doing, so you should do it.”

 

If I hadn’t already been blown away by this woman, the words she just said certainly did the trick once again. I sat there stunned for a moment, just starring at the woman in front of me. She, for one, was studying my face, as if she was trying to find out if she had said something wrong. Just as she was about to speak again, to explain herself further. I pulled her in for another deeper kiss, surprising her a little. But she quickly adjusted, and melted into my embrace as I gently pulled her onto my lap.

 

“Thank you, Gem, you have no idea how much your words mean to me.” As soon as I called her Gem, her face lit up in the most brilliant smile. I had seen the way she reacted when Sarah called her by the same name, the little forced smile, it had been clear she didn’t like Sarah calling her that. But she liked it when I did it.

 

The answer she gave me was not with words, instead she kissed me deeply as she ran her good hand through my hair. We spent most of that night kissing, even though we knew Gemma needed the rest, we just couldn’t stop ourselves.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next couple of day, before I had to leave, went well. Gemma had grown more confident around Sarah, though she still didn’t say anything against Sarah if she did or said something Gemma didn’t like. I would have liked to understand why she let Sarah act like that towards her, but when I asked her she just said that she didn’t like talking about it. I didn’t press her to tell me, it wouldn’t have been good for her to push her into something she didn’t want to do.

 

Sarah, however, seemed to think that if Gemma didn’t say something she was allowed to do what she liked. I had noticed that, every night, Sarah had the tendency to hide all the pictures of Gemma’s mother, for reasons I did not understand at all. I didn’t tell Gemma about it, not wanting to upset her, I just got up earlier than her in the mornings and put the pictures back where they belonged.

 

I had just finished doing that the day I was leaving for my interviews, and went in to wake up Gemma and to say goodbye for now. She was sleeping soundly in her bed, wearing one of my t-shirts I had let her borrow, because she liked the smell of it so much. She looked so beautiful as she laid there, and I almost didn’t have the nerve to wake her. But I knew she would be upset with me if I left without saying goodbye, so I sat down beside her on the bed and stroked her hair to wake her up.

 

“It can’t be morning already.” She groaned as she woke up, her good hand reaching for my arm so she could pull me down beside her. I gave in to her pull and laid down beside her with a smile on my lips as she snuggled closer to my chest.

 

“I’m afraid it is, love, and I have to leave soon.” I told her as my fingers gently drew circles on her hip. I heard her sigh heavily at my words, but there was a gentle smile on her face when she finally looked up at me. It was clear she was worried, but not about me leaving, it was about something else.

 

“How much time do we have?” She gently nuzzled her nose against my neck and inhaled a little while she was there, taking in more of my scent.

 

“About half an hour.” I told her as I looked at my watch, before I kissed the top of her head and took in the lovely smell of her hair.

 

“A half hour of you staying here in bed with me, that sounds wonderful.” She giggled a little as she wrapped her arms around me, in an effort to get me to stay with her as long as possible.

 

“You know I have to leave soon.” I laughed softly as I looked into her eyes, loving her little playful way of showing me she would miss me.

 

“Yes, I know. And I won’t stop you when you really have to go, but I am going to keep you here in this bed for as long as I can.” She then kissed the tip of my nose playfully as she pulled me closer. We laid in each other’s arms in a comfortable silence for a long while, before she suddenly whispered. “I am going to miss you.” Her tone of voice suddenly changing to a more serious one.

 

“I will miss you, too, Gem. But it is only two days, and then I will be right back.” I assured her with a kiss on the forehead, as I stroked her hair. “And if you need to talk to me you can always call, I promise I will pick up no matter what time you call.” She nodded and smiled a little. I then looked at my watch again and saw that it was time for me to leave, but not before I pulled her as close to me as I possibly could, and gave her passionate kiss. As she had said, she didn’t try to stop me from leaving. She just gave me a loving smile and told me to have fun. In return I gave her a sweet and gentle kiss, before telling her I would be back before she knew it.


	7. If I Lay Here, If I Just Lay Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know exactly how I had imagined my time alone with dad and Sarah would go. I had hoped that we could have gone through the two days without me wanting to yank my own hair out in frustration. The first day actually went quite well, to my utter surprise. Sarah had stopped asking me questions about Tom and me, and was behaving nicely. This made me a bit more wary of her than usual, thinking she must have been up to something. But I just tried to go along with it, knowing if I worried too much over what she might be up to, I could do more harm than good to myself.

Gemma’s POV

 

I don’t know exactly how I had imagined my time alone with dad and Sarah would go. I had hoped that we could have gone through the two days without me wanting to yank my own hair out in frustration. The first day actually went quite well, to my utter surprise. Sarah had stopped asking me questions about Tom and me, and was behaving nicely. This made me a bit more wary of her than usual, thinking she must have been up to something. But I just tried to go along with it, knowing if I worried too much over what she might be up to, I could do more harm than good to myself.  

 

Since I had become so attached to Tom, It was weird going through the day without him being there. I missed him more than I thought possible for a person I had only known for about a week. It had gone so quickly that I was actually quite surprised with myself. But I was happy. Even though the way we met could have been better, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Who was to say we would be as close as we were, if we had met in a safer way.

 

There was just one thing that had been frustrating me this whole time, which was me not being able to move around on my own. I wanted so much to be independent, to show Sarah that I wasn’t the kid she took me for. That was why I had been so set on going to that job interview, instead of letting Tom take me to the hospital. Which I knew was pretty stupid, but I really needed the job. I wanted so much to show Sarah and dad that I could take care of myself, and then I have an accident that forces me to ask them for help. Just my luck, right?

 

To start with everything went alright, I let my dad help me with the things Tom had helped me with. Making me feel like a kid again, but I couldn’t just say I didn’t need his help. Because I did. He even read some of Jean Eyre for me, which felt so weird to me. He had seen Tom reading it to me and seen how it had made me smile, and he wanted to make me smile like that too. I couldn’t really explain why it felt weird to me, maybe it was because we weren’t as close as we used to be, or because he had let Sarah treat me the way she did and I didn’t feel like I could trust him anymore. I truly didn’t know what it was.

 

The real problem for me, started when I was about to go to bed the first night Tom was away. Dad had just been helping me get ready for bed in the bathroom, and was wheeling me back to my room when I noticed something was off. Somethings were missing as we passed through the living room, and it didn’t take me long to figure out what they were. All the pictures of my mom were gone. That was when I finally saw red, and even though I still had a massive headache and was told to take it easy, I just couldn’t hold it back anymore.

 

“Where are they?” I snapped at Sarah, who was standing in the middle of the living room looking at the picture of me and mom in my copy of Jane Eyre.

 

“Where are what, Gem?” She almost dropped the book in surprise of my sudden question, and of course she chose to play innocent, which just made me madder.

 

“You know what I am talking about, Sarah, what did you do with them?” For the first time since I got the wheelchair, I tried to wheel myself around. I needed to get closer to her, and I wasn’t sure my dad would help me so I just did it myself. Even though it hurt like hell in my wrist.

 

“Gem, you have to tell me what you are talking about or I can’t help you.” She wasn’t going to help the conversation along in any way, probably thinking if she kept denying it I would give up eventually. But she was so wrong.

 

“The pictures of my mom, where are they?” I asked as I wheeled myself all the way over to her and ripped the book from her hands, she wasn’t going to hide that away. “And would you please stop calling me Gem! Mom called me Gem, Lilly calls me Gem and Tom calls me Gem, but you do not have the right and especially not now!”

 

“Gemma, would you please stop overreacting?” She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at me. “Try to see from my point of view, I just feel very uncomfortable with having pictures of her around me, so I hid them.”

 

“I am not overreacting, Sarah, this is my home!” She took a slight step back when I yelled at her, but I just kept going. “She was my mom, she was taken from me when I was just a kid and now you want to hide her away because you are uncomfortable. You may be my dad’s ‘new’ wife, but that doesn’t give you the right to erase my mom from our lives!” True to form, this was where my dad stepped in to defend Sarah, as usual.

 

“Can’t we just keep the pictures hidden as long as Sarah and I are here?” He asked as he walked around my wheelchair to comfort Sarah. I couldn’t believe the words that had just left his mouth, and I sat for a moment just staring at him in a state of shock.

 

“Did you really just say that?” I clutched the book to my stomach as I spoke, in that moment it was the only thing I had of my mom and I wasn’t letting go of it anytime soon. “She was your wife, she loved you till her last breath and you think it is okay to hide her away? She didn’t leave you for another man, she didn’t leave us of her own free will, she died!” Tears were running down my cheeks at this point, my whole world was falling apart in front of my eyes and I couldn’t stop it. “You are unbelievable.”

 

“Gemma, please…” My dad tried to take a step towards me, but I held my hand out to stop him. I didn’t want him or Sarah anywhere near me, so I wheeled myself away from them as quickly as I could. Hurting myself even more, but I didn’t care anymore.

 

I made it to the bathroom relatively quickly, go out of the wheelchair and dragged myself inside before shutting the door. I had to leave the chair outside since my bathroom was so small, I knew it wouldn’t fit. This left me laying on the cold tile floor, my head was hurting even more than it had before, my wrist was throbbing with pain and I was feeling extremely sick. I couldn’t see anything in front of me, my vision was so blurred by tears, so I squeezed my eyes shut.

 

“Gemma, please can we just talk about this?” My dad asked as he opened the door and looked down at me.

 

“Go away, John, please just leave me alone!” I kicked the door shut with my good leg before curling up into a ball on the floor. I didn’t want to call him dad, he didn’t deserve that title anymore. Not after what he just said, now he was just John.

 

I knew John and Sarah would keep trying to get in and talk to me, and I couldn’t stand the thought of even looking at them right now. I had to get out of there somehow, but how would I do that? I couldn’t call Lilly, I didn’t even know if she was home yet. If she was home she would have told me, so she couldn’t help me. Tom was working, he had said he couldn’t miss those interviews. I knew he had said I could call him at any time, but could I really do that? Would it be right of me to do it? I didn’t know, and I couldn’t take the time to think it through thoroughly. My pain was only intensifying by the second, I didn’t have much choice but to call him. I just had to get out of there.

 

I gently dug my phone out of my pocket, trying not to move too much, to lessen the pain. Blinking a few times to clear my vision of tears, I searched through my phone for his number and called him.

 

 _“Gem, my love, how are you feeling?”_ His voice rang out through the receiver, he sounded so happy. It almost stopped me from asking him what I needed to ask him, but I had to do it, I had to get away from my apartment somehow.

 

“Tom… Help me please.” I whimpered into the phone.


	8. Save You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She told me everything about her fight with Sarah and what her father had said and done, all the while still crying and her breathing was getting more and more erratic. She was hyperventilating and soon after she dropped the phone, and I heard the faint sound of her throwing up. I knew that wasn’t good, that was a symptom of her concussion getting worse. One of the many symptoms the doctor had told me to look out for, and I hadn’t been there to do it. I had known that Sarah hid the pictures of Gemma’s mother, I had done my best to make sure that Gemma wouldn’t find out because of her condition. But I had been foolish to believe that Sarah wouldn’t still do it when I wasn’t there, and now I knew that I should have told Gemma about it or have stayed with her to spare the pain she was going through.

Tom’s POV

 

I was having a blast with the interviews, just like I thought I would. Everyone was so nice and did their best to make me feel at ease and make me laugh, which really wasn’t hard for most of them. They asked about my latest work, up and coming projects, Loki, and some asked me to do an impression. It was fun, but my whole mind or heart wasn’t in it this time. I could easily think of a place I would rather be… with Gemma.

 

No matter what I did or how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get Gemma out of my head. Not that I minded her being there, not at all, but I knew I had to focus on these interviews and she made it a bit harder. I just couldn’t help but wonder what she might be doing throughout the day, if she was doing okay, if she was having problems. Every time an interview was over, I quickly checked my phone hoping to see a text from her. I knew that she might not send one, because she didn’t want to distract me from my work, but unknowingly she did anyway.

 

After all the interviews of the first day was done and I’d had my dinner, I went back to my hotel room to relax and get some time to myself. I was lying in bed trying to read a book, not being very successful since Gemma kept making her way into my mind and my eyes kept drifting to my phone. In the end I just gave up, put the book away and reached for my phone. Wanting to look at the pictures I had taken of her the day before I left.

 

She had been sleeping soundly in my arms, her head resting gently on my shoulder and she had a serenely beautiful smile on her face. There was no sign of the near constant pain she had been in since the accident on her face, she just looked so peaceful and happy. I wanted to capture the moment in some way and a picture was the only way I could think of, though I doubted I would forget it anytime soon. I got one picture of her sleeping, but just as I was about to take another she opened her eyes and saw the phone. She didn’t say anything in protest of me taking pictures of her while she slept, she just moved closer to me and asked me to take one of us together. I thought the picture was perfect, but she asked me to take another. Just as I was about to take the next picture, she gently turned my head towards her and kissed me. It was clear that she wanted a picture of this, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t want it too, so I obliged her wish.

 

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face when I looked at the pictures, and for the first time that day it actually felt genuine. The smile only grew brighter when my phone suddenly rang and I saw it was Gemma calling.

 

“Gem, my love, how are you feeling?” I greeted her as I got more comfortable in the bed, thinking she had called to say goodnight before she went to sleep.

 

 _“Tom… Help me please.”_ As soon as I heard her words I knew that she was crying, I sat bolt upright and now my smile was completely gone.

 

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Tell me.” I demanded softly. I wanted, needed, to know what had happened to her, but all I heard from her end was sobs and quickly taken breaths. “Talk to me, Gem.”

 

She told me everything about her fight with Sarah and what her father had said and done, all the while still crying and her breathing was getting more and more erratic. She was hyperventilating and soon after she dropped the phone, and I heard the faint sound of her throwing up. I knew that wasn’t good, that was a symptom of her concussion getting worse. One of the many symptoms the doctor had told me to look out for, and I hadn’t been there to do it. I had known that Sarah hid the pictures of Gemma’s mother, I had done my best to make sure that Gemma wouldn’t find out because of her condition. But I had been foolish to believe that Sarah wouldn’t still do it when I wasn’t there, and now I knew that I should have told Gemma about it or have stayed with her to spare the pain she was going through.

 

 _“Everything hurts, Tom.”_ She told me when she finally got back on the phone, still crying but her breathing was a little more controlled now. _“I have to get away from here. I can’t stay here, not while they are here, I don’t want to.”_ I knew that I had to get her out of there, I had to get her to the hospital since her condition was this bad. But I wasn’t close enough to get her out of there as quickly as she needed to, I had to find another way to get her to a hospital. And I knew exactly who to call for help.

 

“I will get you out of there, Gem, I promise.” I told her in as calm a voice as I could master at the moment, even though I was desperate to get to her side as fast as possible. “However, it will take me too long to get to you, but I have a good friend I can call who will help you.” I promised her.

 

 _“Just get me away from them, I would do it myself but…”_ I heard her groan and hiss in pain and I suspected she was trying to get up. _“But it hurts too much.”_

 

“Just stay there, love, don’t try to move.” I told her quickly to make sure she didn’t bring more pain to herself. “I have to end the call now so I can call Ben and ask him to help you, but I will call you right back as soon as I am done talking to him and I will stay on the phone with you until he is with you. Okay?”

 

 _“Yes, okay, Tom. Just hurry.”_ She said quickly.

 

“I will, darling.” I said softly before I hung up, so I could call Ben.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Ben’s POV

 

Of all the ways I had expected that night to go, that really wasn’t one of them. I had planned on just having a quiet night at home, maybe catch up on some reading, you know? Just relax. Or at least that was until Tom called. It surprised me a little that he would call at this hour, but I picked up anyway, thinking he might have finally found a time we could meet for that lunch. But even if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have said no to a good chat with him.

 

“Hi, Tom! How…” Was all I could say when I picked up before Tom interrupted me.

 

 _“Hi, Ben. I’m sorry I don’t really have time to chat right now, but I really need your help.”_ He explained quickly, and I heard a bit of desperation in his voice as he spoke.

 

“What happened?” I asked quickly in a worried tone of voice. “What can I do?” I added to let him know that I would help.

 

 _“Gemma, the woman I told you about the last time we talked, the woman I saved. She got into a fight with her father and stepmother, which she really couldn’t handle along with her concussion and constant pains.”_ I could hear he was walking around on the other end of the line as he spoke, it sounded like he was packing a bag or something like that. _“She is now lying on her bathroom floor in a great deal of pain, and she really needs to get to the hospital. But I am not in London right now, and I can’t get to her quick enough. So I was wondering if you would help me get her there?”_

 

“Of course I will help you and her, Tom, just tell me where she lives and I will get her to the hospital as quickly as I possibly can.” I assured him. He quickly thanked me and told me Gemma’s address as I got up and grabbed my keys before I hurried out to my car.

 

_“Thank you so much for this, Ben, I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am to you. But I really have to go now, I told Gemma I would call her back as soon as I had talked to you.”_

 

“No need to thank me, I can’t just leave a woman in pain lying on her bathroom floor, it wouldn’t be right.” I told him as I got into my car and started it. “Tell Gemma I will be there soon.” I said before saying goodbye and hanging up, so I could hurry down the streets of London towards Gemma’s apartment.

 

When I got there and I had knocked on the door, I was greeted by a woman who looked extremely angry. Like she was about to throw a fit or something, so I guessed this was the stepmother.

 

“Who are you? And what do you want?” She snapped at me as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

 

“My name is Benedict, and I am here to see Gemma.” I told her kindly, trying not to let her hostility get the better of me.

 

“I am not sure she wants to see you, she won’t even talk to her father and me right now.” She said as she rolled her eyes, while trying to block the door so I couldn’t enter.

 

“Why don’t we let Gemma decide who she wants to see?” I asked as I gently but also very firmly made my way past her and into Gemma’s home. Quickly making my way to where I guessed her bathroom was, following the sounds of sobs and a woman speaking, which I could only guess was her talking to Tom.

 

When I entered the bathroom I saw Gemma hunched over the toilet, while clutching a book to her abdomen and pressing a phone to her ear. Exhaustion and pain, both physical and emotional, clearly written all over her face. She looked up at me and the tiniest smile appeared on her face.

 

“Ben is here.” She told Tom in a voice that truly showed off her exhaustion. “Yes, I promise I will do what he says, just get here as soon as you can.” She demanded softly as a little brighter smile made its way to her lips. “Good, my love, see you soon.” She said before putting her phone away, and looking up at me again.

 

“Hi, Gemma. I think it’s time we got you out of here.” I told her as I bent down and gently picked her up bridal style. She just nodded gently before hissing loudly as I moved her, I started to apologize but she quickly stopped me. Probably because she knew the pain couldn’t have been prevented, since she needed to be moved.

 

I quickly made my way out of the bathroom and towards the front door, as she held onto me tightly. But before I could get to the door, Gemma’s father stepped in front of me and Sarah wasn’t far behind him.

 

“What are you doing?” Her father asked angrily.

 

“I am taking your daughter to the hospital, she is in great pain and needs medical attention as soon as possible.” I tried to walk around them and get out of there, but they kept blocking my path.

 

“Why are you doing that?” Again asked angrily but this time by Sarah.

 

“Because my friend Tom asked me to, now will you please step aside so I can get her to the hospital?” This time they did move and I quickly made my way to the door. But before I made it all the way there, Gemma asked me to stop and turn around.

 

“John and Sarah, I do not want you to stay here in my home any longer, not after what has happened here tonight.” She told them as firmly as she could in her tired voice.

 

“What do you mean, Gem?” Her father asked quickly as he moved toward us, but Gemma held her hand out to stop him from getting too close.

 

“I mean that when I get back from the hospital I don’t want you to be here, I want you to get out of my apartment.”

 

“But where do you want us to go then?” Sarah asked in a distressed tone.

 

“Well, you are in London so I am sure you could find a hotel to stay at, or you could go back to France. It is your choice, I just don’t want you here.” She snapped at her stepmother.

 

“Gemma…” Her father began but Gemma cut him off.

 

“No, John, I don’t want to hear it.” She said before looking up at me and nodding at me to say that she was ready to go, and I quickly obliged her wish.

 

The ride to the hospital was a quick one, but Gemma was so exhausted that she fell asleep shortly after I put her in the car. When we got to the hospital she was quickly admitted, I explained as much of what I knew had happened, she was taken up for scans, tests and x-rays, they gave her a new cast on her wrist and then they let her rest in her hospital room. I sat beside her bed as she slept, to keep her company while we waited for Tom to arrive. When he finally did come, a couple of hours later, he ran to Gemma’s bedside and kissed her forehead. She didn’t wake up at the kiss, which was a good thing since she really needed the rest after what she had been through. She just stirred slightly and smiled a little, which was enough for Tom to know she was going to be alright.


	9. Tell Me You’ll Open Your Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I sat by her bedside for a long time holding her hand, talking to her and reading more of Jane Eyre to her, even though I wasn’t sure if she could even hear me. But if she could hear me, I just wanted to make sure that she knew I was there with her. It was well into the night when finally I put the book down, and looked around the room to find out what time it was. Ben had stayed with me and was sleeping in a chair on the other side of Gemma’s bed. I had told him he didn’t have to stay, but he said he wanted to meet Gemma properly. So he waited with me for her to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry it took me so long to update this, but I have had so many things happen to me in the last couple of months. Some were good and some were bad. I really didn't mean for it to take so long for me to update it, I tried many times to write something but I just couldn't get anything down on paper until now. I just hope you like it.

Tom’s POV

 

There we were again, her in a hospital bed and me sitting, watching over her, waiting for her to wake up. It felt awful seeing her like that again, knowing the pain she had gone through to bring her here and that I could have prevented it. All I wanted was for her to be all right, for her to wake up and tell me that she was okay. The doctor had said she would be fine, Ben had said it too, but I needed to hear it from her. I missed her voice, her beautiful chocolate brown eyes, her touch and everything about her. But I knew it would be a long while until I got to hear, see and feel any of that, because she needed all the sleep she could get and I wasn’t about to wake her up just because of my needs.

 

I sat by her bedside for a long time holding her hand, talking to her and reading more of Jane Eyre to her, even though I wasn’t sure if she could even hear me. But if she could hear me, I just wanted to make sure that she knew I was there with her. It was well into the night when finally I put the book down, and looked around the room to find out what time it was. Ben had stayed with me and was sleeping in a chair on the other side of Gemma’s bed. I had told him he didn’t have to stay, but he said he wanted to meet Gemma properly. So he waited with me for her to wake up.

 

“I’m so sorry I left, Gem. I should have stayed and looked after you so you wouldn’t have ended up like this again. I’m so, so sorry.” I told her as I let my thumb stroke the back of her hand. My talking must have woken up Ben, because suddenly he spoke.

 

“It wasn’t your fault, Tom.” He told me softly as he moved closer to Gemma’s bed.

 

“Yes it was, if I had stayed this wouldn’t have happened.”

 

“There is no way of knowing that, she could have discovered her stepmother hiding those pictures whether you were there or not.” He said and looked me in the eye. “And we both know that you had to leave, it was for your career.” I knew he was right, but I just didn’t want to admit it to him. Even with what he had said I still felt guilty.

 

“But is my career more important than her?” I asked him a moment later, not knowing what else to say. I loved acting, there was no doubt about it. But could I already love Gemma more?

 

“Only you can answer that, my friend.” He answered with a half-smile. “Do you love her? You have only known her for about two weeks.”

 

“Yes, I love her very much. She is amazing, Ben, just wait until you meet her properly.” I told him and held onto Gemma’s hand a little tighter. “I don’t care that I haven’t known her for very long, she trusted me from the moment we met and her best friend tells me that that is very unusual for Gemma. I’m proud to be the one she trusts that easily and I love her for it.” I had never actually told Gemma that I loved her, but I was going to do that as soon as she woke up. I wanted her to know it.

 

“I don’t need to meet her properly to know that, Tom, I saw that when I went to get her. She is incredibly strong. Even though she was just about to fall asleep in my arms and in so much pain, she took her time to tell her father and stepmother to get out of her apartment before we left for the hospital. She wouldn’t even let them talk her out of it, I can already see how amazing she is, mate.” He told me with a big smile and I couldn’t help but smile back.

 

“Do you believe that I love her?” I asked him hesitantly as I looked into his eyes.

 

“Yeah, of course I do. I certainly don’t see why you would lie about it.” He told me with a small laugh before he looked down at the sleeping Gemma. “She is very beautiful, if she loves you back you’re a lucky man.”

 

“Thanks, man.” I laughed along with him but suddenly stopped when Gemma groaned. “Gem, are you all right?”

 

“You love me?” She asked softly before she opened her eyes to look at me, and even though she couldn’t see me properly without her classes, her eyes were pointed straight at me.

 

“Yes, of course I do, Gem. I love you so very much.” I whispered to her as I leaned in to kiss her forehead again. When I pulled back a little to look at her again, she had the most beautiful smile on her face and it made me smile just as much.

 

“I love you too, Tom, I really do.” She told me before she kissed me softly. Then she turned her head to look at Ben. “And you think that I am beautiful?” Her question made both Ben and I laugh.

 

“Yes, I believe I said that.” He answered her with a grin on his face that Gemma probably couldn’t see. “And I also believe that I meant it.”

 

“Thank you very much.” She said as her cheeks turned deep red, but she didn’t try to hide it. “I would also like to thank you for helping me get away from my apartment, I’m afraid I fell asleep before I got a chance to thank you back then.”

 

“You’re welcome, darling, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t helped you, knowing that you were in so much pain and needed to get here.” He told her with a soft smile on his face, and Gemma nodded. “How are you feeling?”

 

“I am better, but my head still hurts and I don’t think my wrist got any better when I wheeled myself around last night.” She told him with a sad smile, probably still sad about what had happened with her father and stepmother and I didn’t blame her. “And I’m still pretty tired, but I expect that is normal.”

 

“Do you want to sleep some more?” I asked her before I kissed her hand gently, looking into her beautiful brown eyes.

 

“Yeah, but only if you do too, you two are very noisy when you talk.” She said with a small laugh as she stroked my cheek.

 

“Yeah, I probably should get some sleep too, it is pretty late.” I said as I kissed the palm of her hand and was about to sit down in my chair again when she held onto my hand a little tighter.

 

“Won’t you lie in bed with me?” She asked me softly as she moved to the other side of the bed to make room for me.

 

“Of course, love, anything you want.” I told her as I got into the bed beside her and put my arms around her, she knew very well that this was something we both needed to be able to fall asleep.

 

“Thank you.” She said before she snuggled into my embrace and kissed me, then she laid her head down on my chest and sighed. “I love you, Tom.”

 

“I love you too, Gem.” I whispered softly and kissed the top of her head before I looked over at Ben. He had already fallen asleep again. So I held Gemma tightly, closed my eyes and fell asleep quickly, which I was only able to do because I knew Gemma was all right and that she loved me.


	10. With A Little Help From My Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re right, I know you’re right. But it’s hard to keep believing in it when…” I didn’t get to finish the sentence because suddenly a blonde woman came running into my hospital room. 
> 
> “Oh my god, Lilly!” I exclaimed as soon as I saw her and she ran to my bed.
> 
> “Gem, babe, how are you?” She asked as we hugged each other tightly. 
> 
> “My head feels like its splitting and I can’t really move on my own, but I feel a lot better now that you’re here.” I told her as she pulled away and finally looked around the room, her eyes widened when she saw that the two men sitting with me were Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch, but she quickly seemed to accept it.

Gemma’s POV

 

I really hated hospitals, I always had. Being there always reminded me of my mom’s illness and the loss of her. Though I wanted to remember my mom, I wished I could erase the memories of her being sick. And being the place where I had seen her at her absolute worst really wasn’t fun for me. I just wanted to go home, but the doctor said that I had to stay so they could make sure my fight with Sarah and John hadn’t left permanent damage. My head was hurting more than ever and I was worrying that it would be permanent. The doctor and nurses took tests and scans to make sure that everything was all right, and found out that there weren’t any damage to my brain. But they couldn’t promise that my pain wouldn’t always be there in some shape or form. But the only way to figure that out was to wait and see.

 

That fact worried me quite a lot because if I would have constant extreme headaches, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything. I wouldn’t be able to work, and worst of all I wouldn’t be able to read. I shared my worries with Tom, Ben and the doctor, but they all said that it was too early to worry about that. The nurse gave me some morphine to help me with the pain and Ben and Tom did their best to distract me by talking.

 

“So, Gemma, what do you do for a living?” Ben asked me while we were eating, he had been out getting food while the doctor checked me out and we were all pretty hungry.

 

“I am unemployed, I was on my way to a job interview when I had my accident.” I played around with my food instead of eating it.

 

“What do you want to do for a living?” As he asked me that question I looked between him and Tom, knowing that what I was about to say might be really silly.

 

“I have always loved books, I got that from my mom. She had the greatest passion for books and she passed that on to me by reading as many of the greats to me as she could before she died. Many time she talked about a dream she’d had for her life, owning her very own book store. But she knew she was sick and that it would never come true for her, so I have always wanted to do it, both for me and for her.” I looked down at my hands as I spoke, because I knew it would never come true. “But I don’t have the money to make it happen, so I know my dream is completely ridiculous.”

 

“It’s not ridiculous, darling, you want to honor your mother’s memory, which is a great dream to have.” Tom said as he took my hand and when I looked up at him he had a big comforting smile on his face. “Keep believing in your dream, even if it doesn’t always seem possible to reach you have to keep believing that you can. I always wanted to be an actor, my dad didn’t really think it was a good idea, but I kept believing in it and look where I am now.”

 

“You’re right, I know you’re right. But it’s hard to keep believing in it when…” I didn’t get to finish the sentence because suddenly a blonde woman came running into my hospital room.

 

“Oh my god, Lilly!” I exclaimed as soon as I saw her and she ran to my bed.

 

“Gem, babe, how are you?” She asked as we hugged each other tightly.

 

“My head feels like its splitting and I can’t really move on my own, but I feel a lot better now that you’re here.” I told her as she pulled away and finally looked around the room, her eyes widened when she saw that the two men sitting with me were Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch, but she quickly seemed to accept it.

 

“So you’re the Tom I talked to on the phone?” She asked as she held her hand out the greet him.

 

“Yeah, that’s me. It’s so nice to finally meet you in person.” Tom smiled brightly as he took her hand and shook it.

 

“Right back at ya.” She winked at him before she turned to Ben and reached out to shake his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, I’m Lilly.”

 

“I gathered.” He chuckled a little as he shook her hand. “I’m Benedict, and it’s very nice to meet you as well.”

 

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, Lilly, but how did you know Gemma was here?” Tom asked as he took my hand and looked at Lilly intently.

 

“Well, I have just come back from America and I really wanted to see you since I knew from your dad that you had been in an accident. So I went around to your place to see you, but your dad and stepmother told me that a strange man came and took you to the hospital last night. And here I am.” She had a big smile on her face as she looked into my eyes.

 

“You mean John and Sarah were still in my apartment?” I asked her before I looked at Tom and Ben with a worried look in my eyes.

 

“Yes they were.” At that I got tears in my eyes again, but this time they were tears of anger.

 

“But I told them to leave. Why won’t they ever take me seriously?” My head stared to hurt even more now so I held it in my hands and closed my eyes tightly.

 

“Don’t worry, babe, they are not there anymore. Sarah was so stupid to tell me that you had told them to leave, and when I heard that I made sure they got out of there and I’ve got their keys so they can’t get back in.” She sent me the most triumphant smile when I opened my eyes to look at her in disbelief.

 

“Did they tell you why I told them to leave?”

 

“Nope, and it doesn’t matter. Those two have treated you like shit for so long, I’m just glad you finally found the courage to kick them out.” That right there. That was the reason she was my best friend. She would do so much for me, which had been proved time and time again, I don’t why it took me by surprise every time.

 

“Thank you so much, Lilly, you really are amazing.” I told her as I pulled her into a tight embrace. Tom and Ben were standing on either side of the bed looking at us with a smile on their faces.

 

“You don’t have to thank me, babe, it really was a pleasure to do it.” She hugged me back tightly and I rested my head on her shoulder, I had really missed her. “What did they do anyway?”

 

“Sarah was hiding all the pictures I have of my mom away because she says they make her uncomfortable, and John defended her actions.” I told her as I pulled away and took Tom’s hand again.

 

“What a bitch!” She got up from the bed and started to walk around the room while Ben, Tom and I just looked at her. “I completely understand why you threw them out.”

 

“Yeah, but I didn’t. You did.” I told her before looked up at Tom again with a sad look in my eye. “They are never going to take me seriously, are they?”

 

“Yes they will, you just have to find a way to make them listen.” He held my hand tightly before kissing the back of it gently.

 

“But how do I do that? I can’t think straight right now.” I leaned back in the bed and sighed deeply.

 

“We’ll figure it out, my love, when we have gotten you home and you’ve rested properly.” He looked into my eyes before looking over at Ben and then at Lilly. “And we will all help you.”

 

“Really?” I knew Tom and Lilly would but I wasn’t sure Ben would, but when I looked at them all they smiled at me and nodded. I really had the most amazing boyfriend and friends.


	11. She’s The One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was leaning up against me as we sat in the back of Ben’s car on the way home. She was looking out the window while biting her lower lip, obviously in deep thought. I so wanted to know what was going on in her mind, but I would wait for her to tell me. Maybe she didn’t even know herself and needed time to think it over. I didn’t know, so I just sat there stroking her hair and holding her hand. Then suddenly she looked up at me with a little smile before resting her head on my shoulder and closing her eyes. She had been exhausted so it didn’t take her long to fall asleep.

Tom’s POV

 

After a few more tests, scans and a lot of questions, Gemma was finally allowed to go home. And though I was glad to have her at the hospital where the doctor and nurses could look after her, I knew she would be much happier when she was at home. She had told me about her hate of hospitals and I couldn’t really blame her, if I had been through what she had then I would hate it too. At home she would find it easier to relax, and that was what she needed.

 

She was leaning up against me as we sat in the back of Ben’s car on the way home. She was looking out the window while biting her lower lip, obviously in deep thought. I so wanted to know what was going on in her mind, but I would wait for her to tell me. Maybe she didn’t even know herself and needed time to think it over. I didn’t know, so I just sat there stroking her hair and holding her hand. Then suddenly she looked up at me with a little smile before resting her head on my shoulder and closing her eyes. She had been exhausted so it didn’t take her long to fall asleep.

 

Ben drove us to her apartment and I agreed with him and Lilly that they would come back the day after, so we could talk everything through when Gemma had rested properly. I carried her to her bed, tucked her in and kissed her gently before I left the room silently. I saw that the pictures of Gemma’s mother were still hidden, so I sought them all out and put them back in their right place. So Gemma would see them when she woke up again, hopefully that would help her feel better.

 

After that I looked over her books, there were many and they were quite old. She must have gotten most of them from her mother, I understood why they were all so precious to her. Among her books I found one called The Golden Book Of English Sonnets, it was a copy from 1922 and I quickly took it with me to the couch to read it while Gemma slept. It was a very interesting book, with sonnets written by Thomas More, Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barret Browning and many more. I had my nose buried in that book until Gemma called my name, I didn’t think it had been very long but when I look at the clock, many hours had gone by.

 

It turned out that she was hungry and so was I really, so I helped her to her wheelchair and wheeled her to the kitchen so we could talk as I cooked food for us.

 

“That Golden Book Of English Sonnets, was that one of your mom’s books?” I asked her as I stirred the pasta sauce I was making.

 

“No, that is one of mine.” She had a proud smile on her lips as she spoke and I wondered why that book made her so proud.

 

“It is almost a hundred years old, where did you find it?” Her smile brightened at the question, which made me grin in return.

 

“Yeah I know, that is one of the reasons I wanted to buy it as soon as I saw it.” She told me as she played a little with the cast on her hand. “I found it in a second hand book store, it was kind of expensive to begin with but the guy selling it gave me a discount.” There was the smile again and it made me wonder why she had gotten the discount.

 

“Why did he do that?” I couldn’t stop looking at her as she smiled like that, she was so beautiful.

 

“He said it was because he could tell I loved the book so much, but I think he had a crush on me.” She giggled a little at her answer, and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of her. But I took my eyes off of her to put a lid on the sauce and take the pot with the pasta in it off of the heat, before I walked over to her.

 

“Well, I can’t blame him for that.” I said as I leaned down and kissed her deeply, I felt her wrap her arms around my neck as she kissed me back, so I pulled her with me as I stood back up again. “As long as he doesn’t try to take you from me now.”

 

“Don’t worry, he wouldn’t be very successful if he tried.” I held her tightly in my arms as I carried her to the counter, kissing her neck softly. She let her head fall back slightly as she moaned my name. I felt her wrap her good leg around me to pull me closer, and I quickly followed her silent plea. Now that I was so close to her she quickly moved her hands to pull off my shirt, and I moved to help her get it over my head before we kissed again.

 

Since she had been sleeping she was only wearing a t-shirt and her panties, and it was hard for me not to rip that shirt off her. But I got it off of her gently so I didn’t hurt her, which I was afraid might happen if we took this too far. I groaned in pleasure as I looked down at her naked breasts and gently moved my hands up to touch them, which in return made Gemma moan even more. I wanted so much to lean forward and kiss them, but I stopped myself and looked into Gemma’s eyes.

 

“Are you sure you want to do this now? I don’t want to hurt you.” I whispered softly as I rested my forehead against hers.

 

“Yes, Tom, I am sure, I really want to be with you. I might not be able to do much of the work, but I still want to try.” She looked into my eyes as she spoke, as if searching for something. “You won’t hurt me, Tom.” She then said before she kissed me again, holding me close to her. I then lifted her in to my arms and carried her to the bedroom, gently putting her down in the middle of the bed.

 

“You are so beautiful.” I told her as I took a step back and just looked at her as she laid on the bed, smiling sweetly at me as she blushed but didn’t even try to hide anything away from me. For a moment we just looked at each other in silence, savoring the moment. Like the calm before the storm, but it would be a very good storm.

 

As she reached her hand out for me to come to her, I took off my pants and boxers and climbed on to the bed to lay on top of her. Before I was completely on top of her, I quickly removed her panties which were already soaked.

 

“Already so wet? I have hardly touched you.” I said with a smirk as I finally laid on top of her, making sure not to put any weight on places that would hurt her.

 

“You have no idea the things your eyes do to me.” She answered as she wrapped her arms around me again, she was more than ready for me so aligned my hard member with her entrance and slowly slid into her. Her mouth fell open in a silent gasp when I was all the way in, I stayed still for a moment to give her time to get used to me but also to just look at her beautiful face. I quickly pressed my lips to hers again, not able to hold myself back any longer and she met the kiss eagerly. Wrapping her bad arms around my back and her good hand made its way into my hair, pulling me close to her.

 

We laid like that for a long time, just holding each other tightly as we slowly made love. Kissing, licking, nipping, moaning, groaning and gasping until the need to come became too great for both of us. She screamed out my name as she came and I gasped hers as she pulled me over the edge with her.

 

It was the most amazing thing I had ever tried, my mind had been blown once again by the woman I held in my arms as we drifted off to sleep together. She and only she was the one for me.


	12. What Now My Love?

Gemma’s POV

 

Waking up in Tom’s arms after the night we had, was the best thing ever. I loved waking up in his arms before, but it meant so much more now. We had said that we loved each other and we had made love, everything was different now but in a good way. Everything was better, I was seeing things in a whole new way. Before I had always thought that I could do everything on my own, that I didn’t need anyone else, that I could make a life for myself and make my father happy. But now I could see that he wasn’t the one who had to be happy, it was me and Tom made me happy.

 

I laid there in his arms with my head on his chest, looking up at him. He was still sleeping and had the most beautiful smile on his face. I let my fingers run gently over his chest, liking the feeling of his skin against mine. Mostly I was doing it to make sure that he was real, hoping that what had happened last night hadn’t been a dream. As I kept running my fingers over his bare chest, he stirred a little in his sleep before opening his eyes slowly. As his eyes landed on me he let out a content sigh and he smiled at me.

 

“Good morning, love.” I whispered softly as I smiled at him.

 

“Good morning, darling. How did you sleep?” His hand ran gently up and down my back as he looked into my eyes.

 

“Better that ever.” I giggled a little because of the grin on his face and then kissed his chest gently. “Last night was amazing.”

 

“I couldn’t agree more and I would love to stay in bed all day and make love to you over and over again, but Ben and Lilly are coming over today.” That made me sigh deeply and bury my face in his chest. I didn’t mind that Ben and Lilly was coming over, it was more the thing they were coming over to talk about.

 

“I had forgotten about that.” I mumbled against his skin and I felt his arms wrap around me tighter.

 

“Do you want me to call them and tell them not to come?” I looked up at him and shook my head softly.

 

“No, I need Lilly to come. She is the person who knows most about what Sarah and John have done to me, I need her opinion on what I want to say.” I was a little scared by the prospect of telling my father that I might not need him in my life anymore, but I was old enough to be able to make a life without him. I knew that I would get Lilly’s honest opinion and that she wanted what was best for me, so I trusted her in this.

 

“We better get up and get ready, then.” He told me and was about to get out of the bed when I grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him closer to me again.

 

“Yes, you’re right, but you should kiss me first.” I told him with a little grin before I leaned in and kissed him.

 

“I would love nothing more, my love.” He told me with a smirk, just before my lips touched his. As we kissed he gently wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

 

“Do you think we have time to stay in bed just a little longer?” I asked him with a moan as he moved his lips down to my neck, and my fingers moved gently into his hair.

 

“Yes I believe we do, or at least we can make time for it.” I could feel him grinning against my skin, knowing he understood what I meant by what I said. He quickly moved in between my legs and I wrapped them around his waist tightly, not able to wait to feel the great pleasure he had given me the night before.

 

“I love you, Tom.” I whispered into his ear as I wrapped my arms around him.

 

“I love you too, Gem.” He whispered back just before he kissed me passionately and slid into me.

 

* * *

 

 

“Would it be fair of me to make such a demand?” I asked Tom, Lilly and Ben, who all sat around me in the living room.

 

“I think it’s more than fair.” Lilly told me with a determent nod, as she held my hand tightly. “Ever since Sarah became a part of your father’s life, you have been miserable. You just do whatever you feel is right, I will support you no matter what.”

 

“So will I.” Tom said as he leaned in and kissed my cheek softly. “It’s a hard thing to ask of him, but we will all be here to help you.” He told me as he looked into my eyes, while Lilly and Ben nodded.

 

“Thank you so much, I’m so grateful for your support. But I have to tell them this myself, I have let myself hold back from telling them how I feel for too long, I have to do this now.” I told them as I looked around at them all, looking them in the eyes as they all nodded.

 

“That’s understandable, Gemma, but we will still be here to make sure you’re all right. We wouldn’t want you to end up in another argument with them.” Ben told me with a reassuring smile.

 

“Thanks, Ben.” I said with a smile, before turning to Lilly. “Do you know if John and Sarah are still in London?”

 

“I believe they are, they said something about staying at a hotel until they could get back to France.”

 

“Okay, I will call and ask John to come around tomorrow.” I told them all as I dug around my pockets for my phone, which is harder than you might think when you can only use your left hand. But in the end I found it, the others got up and said they would give me some privacy. Tom kissed my cheek softly before he walked away with Lilly and Ben, who looked like they had a deep and meaningful conversation going on.

 

The phone call with my dad didn’t take very long, since it quickly became an awkward one where I told him that I wanted him to come see me the next day. Not Sarah, just him. It took him a while to get that point, but then he also wanted to know what I wanted to talk to him about. I couldn’t tell him that over the phone, it would be too impersonal and cruel to do that to him. So in the end I just said that he would find out what I wanted to tell him when he came to see me the next day.

 

When I hung up again, I looked back at Tom, Lilly and Ben. Only to see that Tom was watching me, but Lilly and Ben seemed to still be having that deep and meaningful conversation. That made me smile a little bit, wondering if there was something growing between them. That would make me so happy, Ben was just the man Lilly had always been looking for and I really hoped that she would be the woman for him. Since Tom now saw that I was off the phone, he quickly came over to me and sat down.

 

“You okay, darling?” He asked softly as he took my hand and gave it a little squeeze. I nodded a little as I looked into his beautiful eyes, trying to smile.

 

“I’m not exactly sure how I should be feeling about this, but I know that I have to talk to him, I can’t live like this anymore.” I said as I leaned into his side and he quickly wrapped his arms around me, doing his best to comfort me.

 

“I’m sure he’ll listen to you and hopefully make the right decision for the both of you.” He said softly as he kissed the top of my head. I just nodded a little before I gestured to Ben and Lilly, who seemed to be trapped in their own little bubble with each other.

 

“They seem to be hitting it off.” I said with a little smile on my lips, as I watched my best friend laugh and joke with Tom’s best friend.

 

“Yes, they are. They certainly have a lot to talk about, I couldn’t even get a word in.” He said with a chuckle as he watched our friends bonding, while he stroked my back gently.

 

“Is Lilly the kind of woman Ben is looking for?” I asked as I looked up at him with a little smile.

 

“A confident, independent woman who knows what she wants? I believe she is exactly what he’s looking for.” He told me with a determent nod as he looked into my eyes, before he leaned down and kissed me softly. I kissed him back happily, loving just to be there in his arms. He made me feel safe and loved, he made me happy and that was all that mattered to me.

 

The rest of the day, Tom, Lilly and Ben did their best to make sure that I was happy and didn’t think too much about what I was going to do the next day. They knew it would be hard for me, so they did everything they could to make sure that I wouldn’t get too stressed out by the thought of it. I was so glad that I had them all with me, these three people who seemed to want the very best for me, that meant the world to me.


	13. Words That I Should Have Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day, my father arrived at the exact time I had told him to come. He was always punctual, so it shouldn’t have surprised me that he arrived on time. But it did. I thought he would have had some kind of argument with Sarah about coming here alone, and that would have made him late. But he was there exactly on time. I was overjoyed with the thought that he had finally stood up to Sarah, and told her not to come. But I was quickly disappointed, when I saw both my father and Sarah walking into the living room behind Lilly.

Gemma’s POV

 

Even if Tom, Lilly and Ben had done their best to keep me comfortable and happy, I still hadn’t been able to sleep very well the night before my talk with John. The things I wanted to tell him were running through my head as I tried to fall asleep, and it just wouldn’t stop. I think Tom could sense how much I was struggling, because he stayed awake with me, just holding me, kissing me and overall being a great comfort to me. For a moment there I broke down, afraid of how my father would react to what I would tell him, thinking that I might lose him. It soon became clear that I couldn’t breathe, so Tom sat up in the bed and pulled me into his arms, rocking me gently as he tried to calm me down again.

 

“Shhhh shhhh, Gem. It’ll be alright, I promise, just breathe for me.” He said softly as I cried into the crook of his neck.

 

“I… can’t…” I tried to tell him while doing my best, and failing, to stop hyperventilating.

 

“Shhhh, darling. You don’t have to talk, just focus on your breathing. Try to breathe with me.” He said as he started taking deep, slow breaths through his nose, and letting them out through his mouth. I did my best to follow him, and after ten minuets of just sitting there breathing deeply, I was finally calming down again.

 

“I don’t want to lose my dad.” I whispered as I rested against his chest, holding on tightly to his hand. “I’ve already lost my mom, I don’t know if I can let go of dad too.”

 

“I know it’s going to be hard, but in the end I think it’s best for you to let go. In the time I have known you, your father and Sarah, Sarah has been mean to you, and your father let her act like that towards you without saying a word in your defense. And when you tried to defend yourself, he defended Sarah.” He whispered back as he stroked my hair gently, still rocking me back and forth. “I once read a quote somewhere, and I think it suits your situation very well. It goes something like this… ‘Sometimes you have to let people go, because their toxic to you. Let them go because they take and take, and leave you empty. Let them go because in the ocean of life when all you're trying to do is stay afloat, they are the anchor that's drowning you.’”

 

“I know that I have to let him go, I just don’t want to hope that he wants to let me go. I’m his daughter, his baby, his only child, and I know he cares about me.” I was looking up into his eyes as I spoke, as if trying to convince him, and myself, that what I was saying was true.

 

“I know he cares about you, darling, it’s clear to see when he’s with you and Sarah is not there. But as soon as Sarah enters the room, it’s like he’s blinded to everything else but her. That’s not healthy for you to be around, and you have to give you father a heads up as to what this is doing to you, instead of just letting him and Sarah break you down.” He was right, of course. I had to go through with my plan of talking to John, no matter how scared I was, I had to do it for my own good. My constant attempts to make John and Sarah happy, or make them see me differently, were drowning me, and I deserved my chance to fly.

 

I nodded a little at his words, before I started crying again. However, these tears weren’t of fear of losing dad, they were of a kind of relief that suddenly washed over me. Tom somehow knew what these tears were for, and he didn’t try to stop me from crying this time. He just held me in his arms, stroked my hair, and kissed the top of my head as I let all my emotions out.

 

I had needed to let go of whatever held those tears in, it made me feel a million pounds lighter. Much to both Tom’s and my joy, I finally felt tired enough to sleep. I kissed Tom softly on the lips, to thank him silently for his help and support.

 

“I love you, Tom.” I whispered as I snuggled deeply into his embrace, resting my head on his chest.

 

“I love you too, Gem.” He replied before he kissed the top of my head. “Sleep, sweetheart. I promise, it will all be all right.” I heard him whisper softly into my scalp before I let sleep overtake me.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next day, my father arrived at the exact time I had told him to come. He was always punctual, so it shouldn’t have surprised me that he arrived on time. But it did. I thought he would have had some kind of argument with Sarah about coming here alone, and that would have made him late. But he was there exactly on time. I was overjoyed with the thought that he had finally stood up to Sarah, and told her not to come. But I was quickly disappointed, when I saw both my father and Sarah walking into the living room behind Lilly.

 

I couldn’t believe it, she couldn’t even trust neither me nor my father to let us have a private conversation. I didn’t think I could have Sarah there, not if I wanted to get my point across without being interrupted by Sarah, and her hurt feelings, all the time.

 

I was sitting in my wheelchair, facing the couch where I had imagined my father and I would have been sitting while we talked. Ben was standing behind me, ready to help me move anywhere if I asked him to. Tom was in the kitchen making tea, and Lilly had just let my father and Sarah in. I quietly asked Ben to wheel me over to John and Sarah, before they got too comfortable anywhere.

 

“Sarah, I told dad that I just wanted to talk to him today, why can’t you respect a request for a private talk with my dad?” I asked her in a calm tone, as Ben and I blocked their path to the couch.

 

“Well, with these three here, it’s not really going to be that private.” She said as she gestured to Lilly, Ben and Tom, who was just walking into the room with a tray of tea. “And I’m here to stop you from turning you father against me, because I know that’s what you want to do.”

 

“ _These three_ , as you call them, were not going to be in the room with me while I talked to dad. They were going to stay in the kitchen, and only step in if they thought the conversation was getting too loud and they thought I couldn’t handle it on my own.” I told her, still in a calm tone, as I looked her in the eyes. “And just so you know, I wasn’t going to try and turn dad against you. Despite what you might think, I actually respect the choice he made when he married you.”

 

“Sarah, maybe you should join us in the kitchen.” Lilly demanded more than asked, as she stood herself next to Sarah. Lilly didn’t want to have to spend any amount of time with Sarah, but she was willing to do so, to give me some time alone with my dad.

 

“No, I’m staying with John, because that’s what he wants. Isn’t that right, John?” She asked, as everyone’s eyes turned to John to hear his answer. But he just stood there looking at me, meeting my gaze, instead of looking at Sarah, like we all thought he would.

 

“I think you should do as Lilly says.” He told Sarah, without even taking his eyes off of mine. Sarah was, of course, fuming because of what John had just said, but she didn’t get to say anything before Lilly started guiding her to the kitchen. Followed quickly by Ben, who wasn’t going to let Lilly and Sarah be alone with one another for too long. Tom came over and put his hand on my shoulder, sending me a comforting smile when I looked up at him and he saw how nervous I was.  

 

“John, why don’t you go sit down, get yourself a cup of tea, and Gemma will be right with you?” Tom suggested with a kind smile, as he moved my chair a little to let dad through to the couch. When John was finally sitting down, Tom moved around to kneel down in front of me. “You’re doing so good, Gem, he’s already listening to what you’re saying, just keep going like this and everything will be fine.” He sent me a warm smile and cupped my cheek gently, doing his best to comfort me.

 

“Yes, you’re right. Thank you, Tom.” I told him with a little nod and a soft smile, as I leaned into his gentle touch. “Will you help me get over to the couch?” He nodded and kissed me softly, before he stood up, picked me up from the chair and walked over to the couch with me like I weighed nothing more than a feather. Both my dad and I thanked Tom for helping me, before he walked to the kitchen. Then I was finally completely alone with my dad, it felt like an eternity since the last time I had been able to sit with him like this. I just sat there for a moment, savoring the feeling of it.

 

“So, what do you want to talk to me about?” John asked after a little while, he seemed just as nervous as I felt, as he played with his teacup, which was now empty.

 

“I’m going to tell you some things that I’m not sure you’ll be happy to hear, but I need you to hear me out. Okay?” I slowly looked up into his eyes, hoping that he would do as I asked.

 

“Okay.” He told me with a little, determined nod, as if he was deciding to do right by me now. “Please tell me what’s on your mind.”

 

“I’m not sure if you know this, but I haven’t really been happy for a long time. I’ve been putting myself under an inconceivable amount of pressure, to make you proud of me and to make Sarah stop treading me like a child. I thought that if I could make you proud of me, I would somehow be happy. But I have figured out that it’s the other way around. To make you proud of me, I have to make myself happy first.”

“I hope you know that I love you and I want you to be happy, because I do, and this is not me trying to dictate what you should do with your life. But I have to do this to keep myself sane.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, as I readied myself to tell him the part he wouldn’t be happy about. “I can’t have Sarah in my life, dad, not when she treats me like I’m just a child. Or when she tries to decide that I can’t have pictures of mom in my own home. She has no respect for me, even if I tried my best to respect and be nice to her in the beginning. Again, this is not me trying to turn you against Sarah, or tell you what to do. I still want you in my life, but if Sarah makes you happy and you want to be with her, I will respect your decision.” I still had my eyes closed after I was done talking, because I was afraid of how dad would react to what I had just said. To my complete surprise, I felt his hands wrap around my good hand and my eyes snapped open to look at him.

 

“Can I talk now, Gem?” He asked softly as he looked deep into my eyes as I nodded, and I must have started crying, because he moved one of his hands up to wipe tears away from my cheeks. “Your mom was and always will be the love of my life, she made me happier than any other person ever had. She knew me better than anyone, she wrote in her last letter to you that I’m not good a being alone, and she was absolutely right."

"After she died, I was a mess, but I still had you, so I wasn’t alone. But you grew up quickly and I knew that you would move out at some point, so I began looking for someone new. Sarah and I found each other at a point in our lives when we both needed each other. But, as you and I have both noticed now, she has become extremely demanding. I had seen it before we came here to help you after the accident, but I thought I could handle it. I should have seen sooner that she was causing a rift between you and me, and I’m so sorry that I let my fear of being alone take precedence over me being a proper dad to you.” As he talked, my tears started streaming down my cheeks faster than before, and he gently pulled me into a warm, fatherly embrace. One I hadn’t experienced in years.

 

“What does this mean, dad?” I asked him through my tears, as I buried myself in his embrace.

 

“It means that Sarah and I should go home and have a long talk about what we both want to do with our lives. And I promise, babygirl, that you will not lose me.” His words made me cry a bit louder, as I hugged him tightly, and I felt his tears run down into my hair.

 

I must have cried loud enough for Tom and the others to hear me, because the all quickly came running into the living room to see what was happening. They quickly saw that we were both crying happy tears, and that made Tom, Lilly and Ben smile brightly.

 

Sarah, on the other hand, stood there, watching us embrace, with a look of realization on her face. She quickly turned away and walked out of my apartment, without saying a single word. I don’t know if anyone else noticed her leaving, but we all heard the door slamming in her wake.

 

“Dad, Sarah just left.” I told him as I slowly pulled back to look at him, wondering if he had seen it himself. He nodded a little as he opened his eyes again.

 

“Then I better get going too.” He said as he stroked my cheek gently, before leaning forward to kiss my forehead. “I’ll call you soon and be back as soon as I possibly can.” He promised me as he hugged me tightly again, getting up, shaking Tom and Ben’s hands and hugging Lilly before he went after Sarah.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Tom Hiddleston Fanfic, so I hope it is okay. Please feel free to give feedback, good and bad, in the comments, that is the only way I will get better.


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